Gar-coupling



1 (No Model.)

W. R. JENKINS.

UAR COUPLING.

No. 498,473. Patented May so, 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLIAM R. JENKINS, OF- BELLEFONTE, PENNSYLVANIA.

CAR-CO'UPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 498,473, dated May 30,189

Application filed March 24. 1892.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. JENKINS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of. Bellefonte, in the county of Centre and State ofPennsylvania,have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of said invention, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form apart of this specification.

This invention has relation to improvements in couplers, and it consistsin the construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafterdescribed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of thisspecification-Figure 1. is a top or plan View of the coupling hooks intheir coupled position. Fig. 2. is a side view in elevation of the hookscoupled. Fig. 3. is a side elevation of the coupling hooks in theoperation. of coupling. Fig. 4. is a side view of a section of a carprovided with the coupling and means for raising the coupling when it isdesired to uncouple the cars. 7

The coupler consists of essentially two hooks, each being simply a solidpiece of either forging or casting without any joints, knuckles or anyweakening or troublesome parts.

The hooks A and B, are bifurcated at their inner ends in which ispivotally secured to the draw-bars C, respectively, and in such manneras to permit the hooks to be raised upwardly to have a vertical swing.The hook portion proper is formed so as to extend in ahorizontaldirection, that of the coupler A being' turned in a direction thereverse of the one on the coupler B, so that when brought together theymay be hooked one within the other. The couplers A and B, not having alateral swing the hooks cannot be coupled except by raising one or theother and allowing it to drop to its coupled position as shown inFig. 1. The importance of this feature is s that when once coupled thejolting and irregular running of the cars cannot possibly uncouple thehooks as they are held in their coupled position by their own weight.The hooks are held in their horizontal position by means of stirrups orsupports D and E, which while preventing the coupling hooks fromdropping below their level does not interfere Serial No. 426,255. (Nomodel.)

with upward movement of the hooks. The opening F, at the hook end ofeach jaw is of less width than the length of the hook proper, so that incase of any'breakingof the supports D, E, there could be no lateralrelease of the engagement of the hooks.

By reference to Figs. 2 and 3 it will be seen that the nose or forwardend of each coupling is wedge shaped so that when two cars are broughttogether one or the other will slide to the top or over the other, andwhen it has gone suiiiciently far enough will drop by its own weightinto the position shown in Fi 1. in an upwardly direction so thattlletendency of the wedge is to raise one or the other of the couplinghooks.

If the weight of the hooks is not sufficient to hold them down inpractice a spiral spring or any equivalent device can be used for thispurpose.

To uncouple any system of levers can be used as may be found most.convenient for the style of car to which they may be applied. Thearrangement shown inFig. 4, is one that can be used to uncouple the carsand also to retain the coupler in an elevated position so that ifdesirable cars may be brought together without coupling.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patcut, is-

1. In a car coupler, the combination of jaws each having a hook at itsouter end, and a bifurcated inner end said hook having the opening F,therein of less width at its mouth than the length of the hook proper,and itsfront edge beveled on its upper and lower faces, substantially asspecified 2. In a car coupler, the combination of jaws each having ahook at its outer end, and a bifurcated inner end pivoted to the drawbar, said hook having an opening F, therein, of less width at its mouththan the length of the hook proper, and its front edge beveled on itsupper and lower faces, and the supports secured to the under side of thecar body in which the jaws are controlled, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two subscribingwitnesses.

WM. R. JENKINS.

Witnesses:

E. M. BLANCHARD, JOHN BLANCHARD.

The inclining faces of the wedge lie

